Category: Basketball Manager

You might not think of a college coach being a tough job, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Expectations for college coaches are higher than ever, and succeeding in this field requires determination, hard work and the ability to recruit at a high level. Yanni Hufnagel has proven that he has these traits and much more. Hufnagel has put together a resume that demonstrates his ability to recruit and develop players at a high level.

Hufnagel’s basketball career started in his hometown of Scarsdale, New York. It was there that he gained a passion for playing the sport of basketball. After playing in high school, Yanni would begin his journey in coaching. His first work in this field came as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma University. Hufnagel began gaining attention for his abilty to develop young talent. In particular his work with Blake Griffin really had people take notice of his ability.

At Harvard University, Hufnagel’s next stop, his talents really began to shine. He would play a critical role in the growth and development of two key players, Jeremey Lin and Wesley Saunders. Furthermore the Harvard program reach high levels of success making to the tournament in back to back years. Outsiders were truly beginning to notice Hufnagel’s talents. His ability to recruit could not be denied.

After Harvard, Hufnagel had stops at California, Vanderbilt and Nevada. During these stops he was responsible for putting together some top recruiting classes including the #29 overall class at Vanderbilt in 2014. During his time at California he help to recruit one of the top recruits in the nation in Jaylen Brown. California beat out some of the best programs in the country including North Carolina and Kentucky in order to land Brown. All these with Yanni on the sideline.

Yanni Hufnagel continues to excel at Nevada University. His accomplished history would seem to indicate it’s only a matter before he is a head coach somewhere.